How You Can Help People Hit By Hurricane Ida
Hurricane Ida toppled these power lines near a petroleum refinery outside LaPlace, Louisiana. Ida’s eastern wall went right over LaPlace, inflicting heavy damage on the area.
Hurricane Ida grew ferocious fast, pumped up by decades of fossil fuel pollution.
Climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels is making hurricanes more powerful. What’s more, fossil fuel facilities – which can catch fire and leak dangerous chemicals when struck by natural disasters – are concentrated in the Gulf Coast region where the storm made landfall. Due to discriminatory patterns of government regulation, these facilities tend to be situated in—and do the most harm to—communities of color.
Today, communities hit by the storm urgently need recovery assistance:
- Help displaced Gulf Coast residents get housing: FEMA still has not activated its individual assistance (hotel voucher) program outside of Louisiana. The Red Cross has not filled this critical gap either. Contact FEMA Region 4 (770-220-5200, fema-r4-external-affairs@fema.dhs.gov) and Region 5 (312-408-5500) and Red Cross National (1-800-733-2767, or redcross.org/alabamamississippi) to urge them to provide shelter for those who need it.
- Contribute to a disaster relief fund: Donations to the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy go directly to communities dealing with climate disasters.
- Provide basic supplies for people in need: Cajun Navy is collecting donations of cleaning supplies, toiletries, water, canned food, and other essentials.
Earthjustice is using the power of the law to end the burning and extraction of fossil fuels. Take action to help us stop the oil and gas industry from making the Gulf Coast a sacrifice zone:
- We’re fighting to stop a petrochemical buildout in the Gulf Coast, which would dump pollution in already-contaminated communities and lock in more fossil fuel consumption for decades to come. Tell the Department of Energy not to fund a petrochemical boom.
- We just sued the Biden administration over its decision to plow ahead in offering 80 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing, even in the wake of a catastrophic storm. Tell the administration to protect our public lands from fossil fuels.
